Living the renewables dream

Yesterday’s energy report from Chief Scientist Alan Finkel looks at the renewables push through rose-tinted spectacles. It says the problem of reliability with 50 per cent renewable power theoretically could be solved with household batteries wherever there is rooftop solar. Even if this worked practically, it would be costly ($11 billion), as are the various retro fixes imposed by a reckless pursuit of intermittent power sources and the throwing away of baseload supply.

By now all Australia’s governments should be on notice that they must do what is necessary to maintain dispatchable power. Households and industry are entitled to a reliable and affordable supply of electricity. At the Council of Australian Governments meeting in Hobart on Friday, Malcolm Turnbull’s national energy guarantee is on the agenda and deserves universal support. It’s no magic solution for the energy crisis but it has the merit of requiring renewable electricity purchases to be offset with minimum levels of baseload power. The Prime Minister understandably talks up the $2 billion-plus investment in pumped hydro but here, as overseas, coal-fired power is likely to remain a vital part of the energy mix for years to come. The leftist renewables cult is at best conflicted about this, as can be seen in the Queensland election campaign.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has recommitted the government to 50 per cent renewables but still offers no detail on how this could be made to work. Energy Minister Mark Bailey is on the defensive, insisting there are “no plans” to close any coal-fired generators. He seeks to discredit a consultants’ report that the 50 per cent target would bring closures of coal-fired generation, starting with Stanwell’s Tarong plant in 2018-19. Sure, the consultants have some LNP links but their analysis is a logical extension of renewables policy.

Coal is the enemy of the renewables push; generator shutdown is a key performance indicator. Take South Australia, where the loss of baseload power (including from Victoria) has been followed by unreliable, unstable and costlier supply. And it is proving expensive to try to rebalance a network top-heavy in intermittent power supply. Is Queensland next?